Transfusion

We had a 10 day old calf that had gotten off to a great start. Then he suddenly started staggering, falling and laying around. I decided he probably had theileria.  There is still no approved treatment in the US. But some people have had success giving blood transfusions. 

Might as well give it a try.  I didn’t have a large enough collection bag so I used an iv fluid bag and added some heparin as an anticoagulant. 

Another jugular catheter, and the calf got a little over a liter of blood. 

 He was stronger when we let him back out. But only time will tell. I am sure he would have died had we done nothing.